Many vehicles, including aircraft, ships, and some terrestrial vehicles, include AC generator systems to supply relatively constant frequency AC power. Many of the AC generator systems installed in these vehicles include three separate brushless generators, namely, a permanent magnet generator (PMG), an exciter, and a main generator. The PMG includes a rotor having permanent magnets mounted thereon, and a stator having a plurality of windings. When the PMG rotor rotates, the permanent magnets induce AC currents in PMG stator windings. These AC currents are typically fed to a regulator or a control device, which in turn outputs a DC current to the exciter.
The exciter typically includes single-phase (e.g., DC) stator windings and multi-phase (e.g., three-phase) rotor windings. The DC current from the regulator or control device is supplied to exciter stator windings, and as the exciter rotor rotates, three phases of AC current are typically induced in the rotor windings. Rectifier circuits that rotate with the exciter rotor rectify this three-phase AC current, and the resulting DC currents are provided to the main generator. The main generator additionally includes a rotor and a stator having single-phase (e.g., DC) and multi-phase (e.g., three-phase) windings, respectively. The DC currents from the rectifier circuits are supplied to the rotor windings. Thus, as the main generator rotor rotates, three phases of AC current are induced in main generator stator windings. This three-phase AC current can then be provided to a load such as, for example, electrical aircraft systems.
In recent years, vehicles are being designed that rely more and more on electrical power. Thus, there is an ever-increasing demand for enhanced electrical generators, such as the one described above. One way of meeting these demands is through manipulation of the length and diameter ratio of a generator. For a given rotational speed, increasing the diameter of the generator increases the stress levels in the rotating components. Because some electrical generators rotate at relatively high speeds, with potential rotational speeds up to and in excess of 24,000 rpm, the stress levels in rotating components can, upon increasing the generator diameter, reach material limits. Thus, for many vehicles, the increased power demand can only be met by increasing the length of the generator.
As is generally known, some of the electrical components within the generator may generate heat due to electrical losses, and may thus be supplied with a cooling medium. For example, in some generators the main rotor windings and main stator windings are cooled using a cooling medium, such as a lubricant, that flows in and through the generator. In particular, the main rotor and main stator windings are cooled by spraying the cooling medium, via orifices in the main rotor shaft, onto end turns of the main rotor and main stator windings. The cooling medium flow through the main rotor shaft also provides conduction cooling of the main rotor along its axial length. Conduction cooling along the axial length of the main stator is provided via a stator back iron cooling flow path. More specifically, a portion of the cooling medium is directed through a flow path formed in or on the stator back iron.
Although the above described generator cooling configuration provides sufficient cooling for many generators, as the length of the generator is increased the cooling scheme can present certain drawbacks. In particular, the cooling scheme can result in insufficient cooling of the main rotor and main stator near the axially positioned centers, causing relatively high temperature hot spots at or near these locations, which can be detrimental to overall generator performance.
Hence, there is a need for a high speed, high power generator that addresses the above-noted drawback. Namely, a high speed, high power generator that supplies sufficient cooling to its main rotor and main stator even if the length to diameter ratio is increased. The present invention addresses at least this need.